


A Blonde Walks Into A Bar

by blueboxesandtrafficcones



Series: 31 Days of Ficmas 2017 [22]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Dimension-Hopping Rose, F/M, Post-Episode: s10e04 Knock Knock, temporary reunion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 19:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13173534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueboxesandtrafficcones/pseuds/blueboxesandtrafficcones
Summary: After the events of Knock Knock, the Doctor gets talked into going out for a drink with Bill and her roommates.  When Bill stumbles across a lonely Rose waiting for the cannon to charge, she doesn't know how much better of a Christmas gift this is than the rug.





	A Blonde Walks Into A Bar

**Author's Note:**

> Day 22 of 31 Days of Ficmas! Lagging a bit behind on posting here, but they'll all go up sooner rather than later. Word of the day - Shiver.

Sitting at the end of the table, the Doctor allowed the voices of Bill’s friends/temporary roommates to wash over him.

She had vanished to the bar to procure the next round, and he sat in silence listening to the kids talk about their adventure.  He was just grateful that they’d all survived to tell the tale; thinking about how easily it could have been different made him shiver.

He’d just raised his beer for a sip when Bill returned, another woman trailing behind her.  “Hope you don’t mind, but she was alone at the bar and I thought she could use some company, so I invited her to join us.  This is everyone.  Everyone, this is Rose.”

Despite knowing logically that it wasn’t his Rose, his hearts still gave a painful thump at the name and he looked up to reassure them.

He promptly choked on his beer, spitting half of it out as he coughed and spluttered.

“All right there, mate?”  Bill’s new friend asked and his eyes watered in response, though not because of his fit.

“Yeah,” he muttered in a daze, too busy staring at her.

At Rose.

At _his_ Rose.

She gave him a small smile, but it wasn’t right.  Her tongue was firmly locked away behind closed lips and teeth and more importantly, it didn’t reach her eyes.

She looked exhausted.  World weary.

As he began to recover from his shock and process that this moment was real, he saw more.  She was wearing that same outfit she’d been in when they’d been reunited.  She also looked pale and thin.

And she was staring back at him, eyebrow raised.

“Oi!”  Bill snapped her fingers in his face.  “You’re being a pervy old man.  I didn’t invite her over here to be eye candy for you.  Quit staring, it’s rude.”

And out it came, as if Pavlov himself had rung the cloister bell.

“Rude and not ginger, that’s me.”

The comment made Bill frown but in contrast as her expression darkened, Rose’s lightened until she was giving him that smile he’d missed so much.

“Still the sort of man you are, then?” she teased, and his hearts stopped for a beat before taking off again at double time.

“Rose,” was all he could manage around the lump in his throat, her name circling on a loop as it hadn’t for a millennia.

Ignoring the rest of the table and focused solely on him, Rose gingerly settled onto the seat next to him.

“Hi,” she offered hesitantly, and he gave her a brilliant smile in return.  It felt strange, unnatural on this face, but her answering grin made it worth it.

“Hi,” he managed to breathe back, and she scooted her chair a little closer.

They watched each other for several long moments before she asked, “I don’t suppose I need to explain where I am or what I’m doing, do I?”

The Doctor shook his head slowly.  “No.  You’re doing the impossible.  You’re being Rose Tyler.”  Unable to help himself, her name came out almost as a prayer, as it always had.

Unable to help herself any longer Rose carefully laid her hand flat on the table before inching it closer to him.  Almost immediately he reached out his own, placing it atop hers.  It wasn’t until she’d flipped her palm up and laced their fingers that he realized it was her left in his right – just as it always had been, from _Run_.

The moment their skin touched, every feeling for her he’d so carefully and painfully locked away came rushing back with all the force of a tsunami.  Long-buried memories flickered through his mind, filling his very soul until all he could see was her.

“Uh, excuse me, what the hell?”  Bill burst their bubble, and Rose immediately tried to withdraw her hand.  The Doctor, however, recognizing this precious gift of the universe for the fleeting moment it was, only gripped tighter, refusing to let go.

“This is Rose.  Lo- Rose, this is Bill, she travels with me sometimes.”

The two women sized each other up, Rose ultimately making the first move by holding out her other hand.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, you too.”  Bill shook her hand, still obviously confused.

“I used to travel with him,” Rose explained, and the Doctor squeezed her hand at the understatement.

“Ah.”  Bill looked distinctly uncomfortable; she was used to the Doctor being cold and aloof, but watching him watch Rose, stars in his eyes, she thought that this might be the first time she was really seeing the person inside the alien.

“Why did you stop?”  She thought to ask, curious.

The two scowled in tandem, but Rose answered.

“It’s a long story, but I’m stuck in a parallel universe.”  Seeing Bill’s raised eyebrow at the present tense, she added, “I’ve built a device that’s supposed to bring me home.  I usually hit either the right universe, the right time, or the right planet.  Sometimes I get two of the three, but never all of them.”

“You will,” the Doctor reassured her, and she let out a sigh of relief.

“Good.  You have no idea how badly I want to get home.”

Feeling guilty, knowing how that was going to end, he tore his gaze away from her to focus on Bill, who didn’t look satisfied.  “It’s been over fifteen hundred years since I last saw her,” he explained shortly, the Oncoming Storm on his face successfully discouraging both women from asking any further questions.

His eyes softened, though, when he turned back to his Rose.  “And you have no idea how badly that me wants you to come home,” he murmured.

Rose bit her lip before checking her watch.  “I’ve still got fifteen minutes before the cannon’s charged enough to go back.  Want to take a walk?”

The Doctor immediately stood up, making her smile at his eagerness.

“Let me talk to Bill for a second, and I’ll meet you outside.”

He frowned and Rose, knowing him as she did, understood.  “I’ll send Control a message that I’ll jump back manually – I’ll have a few hours then.”

Still not looking convinced the Doctor nonetheless capitulated, stalking away from the table and out the door.

As soon as he was out of earshot Rose turned to Bill, speaking quickly.

“Promise me you’ll take care of him,” she begged.

“Well, yeah, but-” Bill started, but Rose kept going.

“No, really.  He’s going to be too busy trying to save everyone else to think of himself.  It’s your job to keep him safe.  Sometimes that means doing what he’s explicitly told you not to.  At the end of the say, he needs someone to remind him he can’t save everyone, and that’s okay,” she explained, shooting anxious glances towards the door.

“I will,” Bill agreed, bewildered.

“Great, thank you.”  Giving her new friend a quick hug, Rose dashed out the door.

* * *

Rose burst out into the cool night air, taking a deep breath as the Doctor appeared silently at her shoulder.  Without discussion their hands came together as they set off down the road.

“Am I going to remember this?”  Rose wondered eventually, breaking the comfortable silence.

The Doctor shrugged, so close she could feel the movement against her jacket.

“I will,” he told her softly.

She nodded before asking, “Fifteen hundred years?”

“Roughly.”  He exhaled sharply, squeezing her hand, and she momentarily rested her head on his shoulder in response.

“You look good,” she managed to tease, making him chuckle.

“I miss you.”  The raw honesty in his voice made her tear up, just as the cannon strapped to her wrist beeped.

“Oh!”  She quickly dropped his hand to page Control.

“Control, this is Rose.  I’ve found something interesting.  I’ll jump back manually.  Over.”

“Roger that.  Say ‘hi’ for me.  Over,” Mickey replied, and she rolled her eyes as she retook the Doctor’s hand.

“Mickey says ‘hi’,” Rose reported dutifully.

“Well, if you remember, say ‘hi’ back,” he deadpanned.

They walked again in silence for several minutes before she started giggling.

“What?  What’s so funny?”

“I don’t know what to say!”  She cried, wiping away tears.  “I’m working so hard to get home, and now we’re here, and I can’t think of anything to say!”

“Rose,” he said gently, pulling her to a stop.  You know, don’t you?”

She nodded.  Despite not having ever heard the words, she’d long since understood his actions which spoke louder than anything.  The way he said her name, _Rose Tyler,_ was their _As you wish_.

“And so do I.”  He stooped a little to meet her eyeline.  “Everything else is just noise.”

She gave him that sad, understanding smile she did so well, and his resolve broke.

Bringing his palm up to gently cradle her cheek, he slowly lowered his head to hers.  Pausing scant centimeters away, giving her time to pull back, he waited.  As he’d hoped, she fisted his lapels and pulled him to her.

The noise stopped.

* * *

“These are gorgeous!”  Rose enthused, happily munching on a chip.  “I mean, we’ve got decent chips in Pete’s World, but not like this!”

Content to just watch her the Doctor teased, “Oh, now the truth comes out.  It’s the chips you’re really working to get back to, not me.”

She looked up from her spoils to consider him, before shrugging.  “Well, it’s certainly a bonus.”

“I honestly can’t tell if I’m the bonus or the chips are.”  He smirked before stealing a chip.

“You know home is you,” she told him, glaring over the theft.

“Any advice?” she asked when he didn’t reply.

He leaned back in his seat, considering her for several long moments.  “Do you know about Donna?”  The non-sequitur made her blink, but she rolled with it.

“No.  Who’s Donna?”

“A friend.  She was traveling with me when you found me.  Brash, opinionated.  Ginger.”  He couldn’t hide his jealous scowl.

Rose started to shake her head before a memory niggled.  “D’you have a picture?”

“Actually-” It took a minute for him to dig through his pockets, but eventually he pulled out an envelope with a triumphant cry, quickly sorting through it before finding what he was looking for.  “Here.”

Rose took it, unsurprised to see the redhead she’d encountered the week before.  After everything she’d seen on her jumps, it took quite a bit to get a reaction.

“I hope Sylvia got her keys,” she muttered, staring at the picture.  The Doctor’s head jerked.

“What?”

“Yeah, I met her last week.  Well, last week for me.  I jumped, landed on the right planet and universe, only to see all these little fat babies or something floating towards a ship in the sky.  I was waiting out the timer standing at a police barrier when she came running up.  Told me to tell ‘Sylvia’ which rubbish bin she’d thrown her keys into,” Rose explained, amused at his incredulous expression.

He shook his head in disbelief.  “What are the odds…” he asked softly.  “Yeah, that’s Donna.  Brilliant, she was.”

“I’ll tell her you said that,” Rose joked.

“I know.”  His voice held a bit of a smirk, making her suspect there was now a circular paradox in play.

“So, what do I need to know then?”

The Doctor snapped out of his memories, focusing instead on the precious girl in front of him and the little time he had with her.  “I assume you’re trying to track me?”  Rose nodded.  “Don’t.  Focus on finding Donna – she’s the key.”

“Really?”  She asked skeptically.

“Donna Noble’s the most important person in the whole of creation.  At least then.  And, you know, big picture.”

“Okay.”  Not trusting her memory, Rose typed a note to herself in her phone.  “Anything else?”

His mouth opened and closed several times without making a sound, and she knew his hearts were at war with his Time Lord instincts.  Eventually they won, and he shook his head.  “Finished?”

She popped the last fry into her mouth, amused at how he stared with unabashed jealousy.  Taking care to slowly lick her lips, she rose.  “Yep.”

They made their way out of the chippy, back to wandering the streets.  A cold gust of wind blew through, making her shiver violently.

“Come here,” he offered, holding out one arm.  She happily burrowed under it, nuzzling her face into his shoulder as he wrapped his coat around her.

“It’s summer for us,” Rose felt the need to explain.

“Ah,” he replied, biting his lip to keep his first reaction to himself.

But Rose knew.  “Got any suggestions how to warm me up?”  She asked cheekily, smiling that smile again.

“Exactly how long do you have?”  He replied, leering down at her.

“Long enough,” she grinned.

He appeared to seriously consider it, before slumping slightly.  “Best not, I think.”

She pressed a kiss to his shoulder, squeezing his hand in sympathy.  “Probably.”

“Anything you do want to do?  Other than that?”

“Can I see your office?”  The device strapped to her wrist beeped, and she looked down at it with a frown.  “What the-”

“Something wrong?”  There was a deep dread in his gut, and he knew his time with her was quickly running out.  Funny how often that could happen to a Time Lord.

“It says I’ve got five minutes before it dies,” she reported, biting her lip as she looked up at him.

“So we’ve only got five minutes.”  He was desperate to accept her implied offer, but he knew he couldn’t; his entire history could unravel without her saving Donna from that parallel world and then being there on the Crucible.  Not that that was necessarily a bad thing, but the whole of reality would collapse and he’d been through that enough times.

“Yeah.”  They just stared at each other, both painfully aware of the seconds ticking away.

“I miss you so much,” he whispered when they were down to three and a half minutes.

“I’m right here,” she said simply, laying her hand between his hearts.  “I miss you too, desperately, but I close my eyes and think of what you’d do if you were there.  Or I think about somewhere we’ve been, or done.  I think about Christmas, you so new and adorable in your paper crown.  I think on the good, not dwell on the bad.  And that’s hard, and sometimes the only way I get through the day is remembering how badly you’d piss me off sometimes.  But you, thinking of you, keeps me fighting.”

“I’m proud of you,” he blurted.  “Everything you’re doing – you’ve _ever_ done.  You’re incredible, Rose Tyler, and you’re doing so much good.”

She gave a shaky laugh.  “Doesn’t always feel it.  But so do you.  You’re so strong, and brave.  You keep going, no matter how bad it gets.”

The Doctor shook his head, panic clawing at his throat as he thought of how soon she would disappear.  “You’re gonna be happy, okay?  I promise, he’s going to fight like hell to make you happy every day of your lives.  He wants you desperately, no matter how cool he tries to play it.”

One sob escaped, and she gripped his lapels.  “Can’t wait.”

As they neared thirty seconds, it occurred to him that he had an advantage over the last two times they said goodbye was in his arms, and there was no second him to steal his moment.

Leaning down he kissed her hard, both arms wrapping around her waist and anchoring her to him as they mouths met.  She wrapped one arm around his shoulders, the other coming up to run her fingers through his hair.

“Great hair,” she muttered between kisses.  He would have laughed if he wasn’t so busy chasing her tongue.

“Don’t forget me,” he pleaded softly, feeling the seconds tick down.

“Never.”

At three seconds, he wrenched himself away so as to not accidentally go with her, much as he’d like to.

“Bye,” Rose sobbed, and he gave in.

“Love you.”

Her face lit up, smile growing as she blinked out of view, cannon shooting her back to Pete’s Universe.

He stood staring at the spot where she’d been for long moments before slowly falling to his knees.

Kazran’s words from so long ago echoed through his mind.

_One last day with your beloved.  What day would you choose?_

He’d finally gotten his last day.

It had been perfect.

Finally feeling the cold, he shivered.


End file.
